1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to door knob and handle covers. More particularly, the invention is directed to sanitary elasticized covering members for use with door knobs and door handles and which provides the advantages of portability and carry-ability in multiple numbers, as well as ease of use and disposability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is well documented with various types of door knob covering devices. The purposes of such prior art devices vary from multiple uses including painting, illuminating during night-time or darkness applications, decorative applications, as well as sanitary aspects. A more detailed description of each such prior art application will now be made as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,140, issued to Visco et al., discloses a sanitary handle cover for either a door knob or toilet handle. The cover is disclosed as including a cup-like portion defining a pocket for insertingly receiving the knob or handle in close frictional engagement. A constricted neck portion extends or projects from the pocket to cover the mounting shaft of the knob or handle and, if desired, a band retainer is employed for holding the cover in place. A plurality of slits or openings are provided through the material, permitting the user""s fingers to grab limited surface areas of the knob or handle allowing knob turning. Visco further discloses employing a disinfectant in its porous material and which is specifically adapted to be slidably engaged over the knob or handle in order to act as a barrier between the fingers of a person and the possible contaminated surface of the knob or handle.
While professing a degree of effectiveness in combating germs and other types of bacteria, Visco appears relatively limited to either door knob or toilet handle configurations of specified size and configuration, and in large measure due to the requirement that it be produced in the substantially cup-shaped manner. The shaping of the Visco cover further prevents it from being easily transported in portable fashion or carried in multiple dispensing fashion. The material used in the cover is further disclosed as being composed of a porous craft paper or other suitable sheet material which would further seem to compromise the integrity of the device in sealing germs away from contact with the user""s hand.
Furthermore, the provision of slits in the cover design, to enable the user to grip the surface of the door handle at certain locations, would seem to largely overcome its professed objective of providing sanitary protection to the user. Along these lines, the argument in favor of the slits in Visco avers that sliding contact of the exposed portions defining the boundaries of the slits, and which are impregnated with disinfectant substance, would act to continually re-sanitize the exposed portions. The truth is that the disinfectant portion would tend to wear over any significant period of time and is a poor second to hermetically sealing of the handle or knob from user""s hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,028, issued to Schwartz, teaches a cover for door hardware which has a plastic sheet adhesively attached to the base of the door hardware and to cover the door hardware while painting. Rather than utilizing an elastic band, as taught in Visco, a side adhesive strip attaches the paint covering to the door handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,122, issued to Williams, teaches another type of door knob cover for enclosing a knob during painting and includes a particularly escutcheon shaped and spherical resilient knob cover assembly for positioning over the door knob.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,615, issued to Tsai, teaches a stretchable door knob cover constructed of a soft cloth-like material, shaped similar to a door knob and including a spherical head, narrower neck and wider base. Openings along the neck of the cover and the flexibility of the material allow the base and neck of the cover to stretch and fit over a door knob. A string is laced through the neck of the door knob cover and tied tightly to secure the cover on the door knob and so that it cannot be removed by pulling. The underside of the cover is coated with a layer of rubber-like material that promotes friction against the surface of the door knob and to allow easy operation of the knob without the cover slipping. The basis of the Tsai device is to provide both decorative and anti-shock aspects and, due to its cloth construction, would not provide any significant degree of sanitary protection.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,551, issued to Randolph, discloses a phosphorescent luminous door knob cover molded from an admixture of a phosphorescent powder and a carrier. A first half of the cover overlies a first half of a door knob and the first half of the door knob neck when the device is operatively installed. A second half of the cover overlies a second half of the door knob and the second half of the door knob neck when the device is operatively installed. A hinge is formed in the cover to facilitate placing it on and removing it from door knobs and an annular band secures the cover to the door knob.
The present invention is a sanitary elasticized covering member for use with door knobs and door handles and which provides the advantages of portability, carry-ability in multiple dispensability. The elasticized covering member of the present invention is further an advantage over the prior art in that it provides the user with the ability to quickly dispense a covering member from a packet container, such as tissue-like box or elongated cylindrical container, and to cover an existing door handle, knob, lever and the like. The present invention is further an additional improvement over the prior art in that it permits the user to easily and portably carry a number of the covering members for quick affixation (and removal) from door handles.
The covering device includes an elasticized body having a substantially three dimensional shape with an inner face, an outer face, and an open inserting end defined by a narrowed neck. The elasticized body further includes at least a single ply of flexible and plasticized material and, in a preferred variant, further includes an outer layer of a soft fabric (cotton) material. It is further envisioned that the outer layer of fabric material may be spray applied using flocking technology known in the art and in order to permit the underlying ply or layer the necessary stretchability or flexibility to configure about any conventionally shaped door knob or ornately shaped handle.
An elasticized ring is disposed around the open neck for assisting in securing the body in place over the handle and shaft and it is also envisioned that, in alternate applications, releasably engageable portions such as VELCRO(copyright) portions may be provided in place of the elasticized ring. An adhesive tacking material is further preferably applied to the inner face of the body for adhering against the door handle surface and may include either an impregnated or spray-applied composition. A disinfecting, deodorizing and/or scenting material may further be coated upon the inner face of said elasticized body, perhaps in combination with the tacking material. Alternatively, the disinfecting material, as with the tacking material, may be impregnated into the plasticized composition of the elasticized body.
A portable and carryable dispenser is provided for holding in compressed fashion a plurality of individual and elasticized bodies. The dispenser is provided in one embodiment as a substantially rectangular and tissue-shaped dispenser with a slitted top surface. In a further preferred variant, the dispenser includes an elongated and cylindrical shaped enclosure with a replaceable lid which permits selective dispensing of individual ones of five or more covering devices. A volume of an alcohol solution may further be provided in suitable dispensing apparatus and which may conveniently be stored within the cylindrical shaped enclosure along with the compressingly disposed and held elasticized bodies.
Reference will now be made to the attached drawings, when read in combination with the following detailed description, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the door handle cover according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an environmental view illustrating the cover of FIG. 1 applied to a uniquely and ornamentally configured door handle;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a slightly modified cover and further illustrating the tacky/adhesive nature of its inner surface;
FIG. 4 illustrates one variant of a multiple dispenser in the form of a tissue-like enclosure according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an illustration of a further modified cover and illustrating the combination of an outer ply fabric layer combined with an inner ply and plasticized layer;
FIG. 6 is an illustration of a further variant of the present invention and showing the provision of Velcro attachments for securing the device to an existing door knob or handle;
FIG. 7 is an environmental view, similar to that previously illustrated in FIG. 2, and generally representing any of the previously disclosed covers applied to a conventionally configured door knob;
FIG. 8 is an illustration of a further variant of a multiple dispenser in the form of a generally cylindrical container with an openable and reclosable top and according to the present invention;
FIG. 9 illustrates a selected cover provided as a substantial blank shape and further illustrating one preferred manner in which a deodorant, disinfectant and/or scenting solution is coated on one or both selected sides of the cover;
FIG. 10 illustrates a further variant of the covering device with the sewn outer fabric and inner elastic layer; and
FIG. 11 illustrates an exploded view of the variant of FIG. 10.